July 31, 2014

Former Credit Suisse Vice President Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court in Connection with Scheme to Hide Losses in Mortgage-Backed Securities Trading Book

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that SALMAAN SIDDIQUI, a former Vice President in the Investment Banking Division of Credit Suisse Group (“Credit Suisse”), was sentenced yesterday to time served in connection with a scheme to hide more than $100 million in losses in a mortgage-backed securities trading book at Credit Suisse. On February 1, 2012, SIDDIQUI pled guilty, pursuant to a cooperation agreement, to the offense of conspiracy to falsify the books and records of the bank. The bonds at issue were composed of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”) and commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”). Once discovered, the manipulation of these bond prices contributed to Credit Suisse taking a $2.65 billion write-down of its 2007 year-end financial result. Siddiqui was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty.

According to the Information to which Siddiqui pled guilty, and statements made during court proceedings:

SIDDIQUI was employed at Credit Suisse as a Vice President in the bank’s New York office. He reported to David Higgs, a Managing Director, who in turn reported to Kareem Serageldin, the Global Head of the Structured Credit Group in the Securities Department of Credit Suisse’s Investment Banking Division. The Structured Credit Group held and traded ABS (“Asset Backed Security”) cash bonds, which included RMBS and CMBS. SIDDIQUI was a trader and had, on occasion, responsibility for marking the securities in a trading book known as “ABN1.” The ABN1 book was composed primarily of several thousand individual long and short subprime-related positions, and also included other securities. The long positions consisted of, among other things, various types of cash securities, including AAA-rated and non-AAA-rated cash bonds. Until March 2008, ABN1 had a net asset value of approximately $5.35 billion, approximately $3.71 billion of which consisted of ABS cash bonds, including RMBS and CMBS positions.

Pricing of Mortgage-Backed Securities

Credit Suisse traders were required at all relevant times to price securities they held at their fair value, that is, on a “mark-to-market” basis, which was determined by reference to either the current market price of the asset or liability, or the current price for a similar asset or liability. In the absence of a liquid market, Credit Suisse traders were required to look to other indicia in order to determine the fair value of the assets on their books. During this time, the ABX Index served as a benchmark for certain securities backed by home loans. It was widely understood within Credit Suisse that traders were to consult the corresponding ABX indices when pricing RMBS bonds and related products.

The Bond Pricing Scheme

The deterioration throughout 2007 of the real estate market in the United States, including the subprime housing market, led to significant reductions in valuations of mortgage-backed securities. As mortgage delinquencies increased across the country, the value of the securities backed by these mortgages decreased and the market for them became increasingly illiquid.

By late November 2007, SIDDIQUI and his co-conspirators were aware that the market for mortgage-backed securities had declined enormously. On November 28, 2007, Serageldin told SIDDIQUI, Higgs, and another co-conspirator that “the housing market [was] going down the tubes” and that they had to “find a way to sell these bonds,” i.e., the mortgage-backed bonds in ABN1. As they recognized, “[t]hose bonds are going to start trading worse than the [ABX] Index.” SIDDIQUI and his co-conspirators did not sell the bonds because the market prices for the bonds were substantially below the inflated value at which they marked the bonds.

From August 2007 through February 2008, SIDDIQUI and his co-conspirators artificially increased the price of bonds in order to create the false appearance of profitability in the ABN1 trading book. Specifically, Serageldin directed Higgs on numerous occasions to reach specific Profit & Loss (“P&L”) targets on a daily and month-end basis. Higgs, in turn, instructed SIDDIQUI and another co-conspirator to mark the books so as to achieve the particular P&L targets specified by Serageldin, rather than to reflect the fair value of the bonds.

Credit Suisse’s ABN1 Trading Book Was Falsely Inflated as a Result of the Scheme

As a result of the scheme, there was a growing disparity between the values ascribed to the marks in the ABN1 book and the available external benchmarks, such as the ABX Index. From August 2007 through the end of that year, as ABX Index prices fell, bond prices in ABN1 that were supposed to reflect the ABX Index remained effectively stable, thereby giving the false impression to Credit Suisse senior management that the ABN1 book was profitable. On one occasion in January 2008, Serageldin expressed concern to Higgs that the overpriced bonds were at risk of being discovered: “We should mark these down because someone is going to spot this,” he said.

The February 2008 Mark-Down

On March 20, 2008, Credit Suisse issued a press release which announced completion of its internal review and stated that the fair value reduction, or write-down, of the ABS positions – which included but was not limited to the ABNl book – was approximately $2.65 billion. Approximately $540 million of this write-down was attributable to the ABN1 trading book and included ABS cash bonds for the fourth quarter 2007 that SIDDIQUI and his co-conspirators manipulated and inflated in connection with his scheme.

Judge Crotty also ordered SIDDIQUI to pay forfeiture in the amount of $150,000, and a $100 special assessment.

Mr. Bharara praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and thanked the Securities and Exchange Commission for its assistance in the investigation of this case. Yesterday’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Since the inception of FFETF in November 2009, the Justice Department has filed more than 12,841 financial fraud cases against nearly 18,737 defendants including nearly 3,500 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Eugene Ingoglia is in charge of the prosecution.